Category Archives: Associations

Policy leaders, statisticians, academicians and private sector will convene in Manila, The Philippines, from June 21-24, 2017, to discuss new methodologies to measure the full impacts of tourism. The 6th edition of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) International Conference on Statistics, an official event of the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development 2017, will address the topic of ‘Measuring Sustainable Tourism’. Supported by the United Nations Statistics Division, the UNWTO initiative ‘Towards a Statistical Framework for Measuring Sustainable Tourism’ (MST) underlines the need to measure the full effects of the tourism sector. The UNWTO International Conference to be held in Manila will serve as a platform to discuss the first draft of the MST framework and its future implementation. The Philippines has become a reference in the region with regard to tourism measurement and a role model in the development of effective inter-institutional collaboration to develop tourism statistics. The commitment of the country, shown in the development of the Tourism Satellite Account framework, explains the decision to host the discussion on the MST initiative. A Ministerial Roundtable will inaugurate the Conference in order to align efforts to advocate among governments the relevance of integrated and reliable data to manage and promote a more sustainable tourism sector. Afterwards, a Panel of Statistical Institutes will provide the opportunity to share experiences and practices implemented at global, regional and national level. Other technical sessions will focus on understanding data demands, the link between the economic, the environmental and the social dimensions of sustainable tourism, including job creation, sub-national measurement, Sustainable Development Goals  (SDGs) indicators, and data sources including big data. Besides policy leaders, statistical experts and private sector, representatives from international organizations …

Travel Agents Association of India – Northern Region (TAAI-NR) welcomed Cristina Ionela Tarteata, Deputy Minister, Tourism, Government of Romania and H.E. Radu Octavian Dobre, Charge d’affaires, Romanian Embassy in New Delhi, to present the destination to its members. The minister made a small presentation at the event, and said that they want Indians to consider Romania as a destination of choice for leisure as well as business travels. She also answered questions by the TAAI-NR members and urged them to promote Romania in their itineraries. Before the presentation, TAAI-NR team, presided by Chairman Rajan Sehgal also held its members’ meet and updated members about what the association is doing.  

India’s business travel industry has grown by 16.2 per cent over the past five years (2011-2016), according to a report by Travelport and World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) launched at the WTTC Global Summit 2017 in Bangkok. It has been predicted that Asia-Pacific will lead the way at a predicted rate of 6.2 per cent each year to 2027, with India (7.2%) among the top five countries attributing to the growth. Over the past five years, at a global level, business travel spend has grown at an annual average of 3.6 per cent, with the strongest growth in the past 5 years having taken place in Asia, the Middle East and Sub Saharan Africa. The CEO of Travelport, Gordon Wilson, commented: “Every day we see business travel growing at a significant rate in many emerging markets with technology playing an in increasingly important role in easing the way for those on trips for their work. As an industry we need to continue to invest in the best technologies and infrastructure whilst governments need to be more business-friendly by removing burdensome visa requirements.” David Scowsill, President & CEO, WTTC, said: “Travel & Tourism generates USD$7.6 trillion in GDP and supports over 292 million jobs. Business travel is a vital part of the sector, and it is a key catalyst for global growth. It drives the relationships, investments, supply chains and logistics that support international trade flows.”

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) announces the departure of David Scowsill, President & CEO, after six years at the helm of the organisation. During his tenure as the third President in the 26 year history of WTTC, he has taken the organisation to new heights, championing the private sector views in high level governmental discussions and promoting the sustainable growth of travel and tourism. “It has been a privilege to lead WTTC, representing the global interests of the private sector of Travel & Tourism, through advocacy with governments around the world. The membership of the organisation has doubled in the last period, but more significant has been the work with governments at all levels on the key strategic issues for the sector,” said Scowsill. “By making this announcement now, the Executive Committee has time to identify a successor and to work through a smooth transition in leadership. Working with a very talented team, we have consolidated the position of WTTC as the authority in the sector, whether through research, advocacy, or the impact of the Global Summits. I now look forward to focussing on new opportunities, knowing that I am leaving WTTC in great shape.” David Scowsill has been President & CEO of WTTC since October 2010. Amongst the highlights of his time, the public/private partnership with UNWTO has produced 84 meetings with Presidents and Prime Ministers, where messages about the importance of the sector have been directed to these key leaders. As founder and Chairman of The Global Travel Association Coalition, he ensured that the travel industry spoke to governments with One Voice on the key issues – from travel facilitation and terrorism, to infrastructure development and environmental …

TAAI Office bearers were recently invited to visit Kunming, Yunnan province, in China and had meetings with top Chinese government officials. “Yunnan province is an excellent location to have TAAI Convention. The Managing Committee will be meeting soon to discuss various offers available with TAAI and decide on the next convention venue soon. The Managing Committee is keen to announce the Convention destination during May/June 2017. The Visit to Kunming yielded several surprises with the outstanding location that Kunming is and with the top quality venues,” said Bettaiah Lokesh, Hon. Secretary General, TAAI, in an official statement. The TAAI Managing Committee had its 14th Managing Committee meeting on board the Royal Caribbean vessel, Mariner of the Seas. The Managing Committee reviewed the approval of TAAI’s application to Income Tax Authorities to grant Section 80G.”The Managing Committee committed will go all out to offer scholarships to meritorious students who are pursuing their education in Travel; Tourism & Hospitality Industry. TAAI’s 80G will also support CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) participation. Several Members of the Managing Committee offered their contributions to commence this most important task of offering scholarships,” Bettaiah said.

The Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI) will be organising its 2017 Convention in Ras Al Khaimah in September. Guldeep Singh Sahni, President, OTOAI, and Haitham Mattar, CEO, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development, signed a MOU for the same at the Ras Al Khaimah Roadshow in Delhi. Sahni said, “We are going to have our convention most probably from September 12-14 in Ras Al Khaimah. The dates are tentative and will be finalised soon. We will be coming out with more details about the convention very soon. Our intention is to introduce new markets to the tour operators so that they have another destination in their kitty, which will add value to the already existing markets that they sell. If one looks at the numbers, there is a big gap between Dubai and Ras Al Khaimah, and we are looking at utilising that for the benefit of the tour operators so that they can extend their tours to this destination, with an added cost.”

The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) is exploring legal remedies with regards to the recent ban on sale of liquor. Speaking at the occasion, Dilip C. Datwani, Vice President, FHRAI, said “Rs. 200,000 crores loss to the exchequer and closure of more than 1 lakh establishments is not a small thing. We would not have minded being sacrificed if the ban were to yield results. But reality is that all the job losses and other damages would be wasted. The object sought would not be achieved”. “Total consolidated loss to both States and to the industry will be around Rs. 220,000 crores. The entire MICE industry including weddings, corporate events will be negatively affected,” said Garish Oberoi, VP, FHRAI. “There has been an unprecedented blanket ban on all national highways across the country without seeing the practical aspect of the topography & terrain of the cities, in the process having affected hotels and restaurants, who have invested crores of Rupees towards the development of the tourism industry in the country. For example, Darjeeling, which falls on NH 55, has hotels stretched over 77 kms from the very base of the town of Siliguri that are directly affected,” further continued T. S. Walia, Vice Presidents, FHRAI. ‘The judgement has effected those establishments that operated legally and we are not takeaways and serve for consumption in premises only. Many entrepreneurs who have taken loans will be placed at a disadvantage. It will make their properties non preforming further ‘continued S. M. Shervani, EC Member, FHRAI.

Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI), the apex body of restaurateurs and hoteliers of Western India, has initiated a full-fledged social media campaign on the recent issue of liquor ban. “Through the social media we will convey a few facts that, in normal times, would have been apparent. In the current state, unfortunately, facts are obscured by surround sound. The facts to be considered are alcoholism is a disease and a social evil; drunken driving is a crime; and, hotels and restaurants serve alcohol. What is of significance is that these facts are not correlated. Any arrow of continuity that may exist is forced. The compulsive alcoholic will find ways and means for consuming alcohol and he will continue to drive after drinking. Just as locking up girls at home is not a solution for preventing rapes, banning hotels from serving liquor cannot be a solution for ending the menace of drunk driving. Drunk driving is a crime, and it should be treated as one,” says Dilip Datwani, President, HRAWI. HRAWI will run a series of hashtags on Facebook that will try and explain some of the common misconceptions. “One million jobs, Rs. 200,000 crores loss to the exchequer, possible closure of 15,000 establishments is not a small thing. It is a huge social cost to pay. And we would not have minded being sacrificed if the ban were to yield any results. But reality is that all the job losses and other damages would be wasted. Statistics prove that there is a correlation between drunk driving and enforcement; and not between drunk driving and number of restaurants and bars. If true, there would be no drunk driving …

PATA India has announced a training programme for its members and their employees on May 5, 2017. The programme is titled “Win-Win Negotiations” and is a full day training program. This training program will be conducted by Roshan Suhail, an accomplished Trainer, who had the honour of working with leading organisations like ONGC, NTPC, BHEL, Dhanuka, Shriram Group, UFLEX, YKK, Ashok Leyland, INTEX, HERO Cycles, iEnergizer, Shree Cements, Reliance Securities, and many more. Suhail has also conducted programmes for Govt. organisations and PSUs like Air India, Engineers India Ltd., FIEO, EPCH etc.

Pronab Sarkar, President, IATO, has said that the members of IATO are unhappy with the transport tax hike by the Transport Department of Haryana Government in the state. Addressing the monthly luncheon meeting of IATO, he said, “The transport tax in Haryana has been increased by 1700% from April 1, 2017. He said that while the government has increased this tax after four years, but such a steep hike is unacceptable. We will be meeting the Haryana Chief Minister as well as the Union Finance Minister to request them to implement any increase gradually.” Starting April 1, commercial vehicles entering Haryana would have to pay Rs. 3000.